Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To assess the risk of losing income from salaries and risk disability pension for multiple sclerosis patients with a clinically stable disease course 3 years after the start of disease-modifying therapy (DMT).
METHODS: Data from the Danish Multiple Sclerosis Registry were linked to other Danish nationwide population-based databases. We included patients who started treatment with a DMT between 2001 and 2014. Patients were categorised into a clinically stable group (No Evidence of Disease Activity (NEDA-2)) and a clinically active group (relapse activity or 6-month confirmed Expanded Disability Status Scale worsening). Outcomes were: (1) loss of regular income from salaries and (2) a transfer payment labelled as disability pension. We used a Cox proportional hazards model to estimate confounder-adjusted HRs, and absolute risks were plotted using cumulative incidence curves accounting for competing risks.
RESULTS: We included 2406 patients for the income analyses and 3123 patients for the disability pension analysis. Median follow-up from index date was ~5 years in both analyses. The NEDA-2 group had a 26% reduced rate of losing income (HR 0.74; 95% CI 0.60 to 0.92). HRs were calculated for 5-year intervals in the disability pension analysis: year 0-5: a 57% reduced rate of disability pension for the NEDA-2 group (HR 0.43; 95% CI 0.33 to 0.55) and year 5-10: a 36% reduced rate (HR 0.64; 95% CI 0.40 to 1.01).
CONCLUSION: Clinically stable disease course (NEDA-2) is associated with a reduced risk of losing income from salaries and a reduced risk of disability pension.
Original language | English |
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Journal | Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry |
Volume | 91 |
Issue number | 1 |
Pages (from-to) | 67-74 |
Number of pages | 8 |
ISSN | 0022-3050 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Jan 2020 |
Keywords
- Adolescent
- Adult
- Databases, Factual
- Denmark/epidemiology
- Disability Evaluation
- Disease Progression
- Endpoint Determination
- Female
- Humans
- Income
- Male
- Middle Aged
- Multiple Sclerosis/economics
- Pensions/statistics & numerical data
- Recurrence
- Registries
- Risk Assessment
- Salaries and Fringe Benefits
- Young Adult